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BLENDING!!!

AmanAshraf
1-Newbie

BLENDING!!!

Hi!! I'm trying to make an aircraft (Boeing 777) for my university project...!

But I don't get alot of stuff in it including blending... I know blending is the most important thing...

I want to learn blending in more details... URGENT!!!

12 REPLIES 12

Amanullah..

Blends are good for cross sections of wings, etc. But I'd also look into Variable Section Sweeps. We also call these "VSS". Over the years these have taken over quite a bit of the work we used to do with blends.

I can give you a quickie tutorial on both blends and variable section sweeps... but I need to know what version of Creo or Pro/E you're working on. The steps are a bit different for the different versions. If I'm going to make a video, I need to know what version I should use for the demonstration.

You'll have to do some experimentation on your own to become proficient but I can get you started.

Thanks!

-Brian

Thanks!!
Well as for the software i'm using Creo Parametric 1.0 School Edition..

Wondering why theres a school version for university students, it should be a full version as there are more options available in it I guess ..

Actually I believe the schools edition is a fully featured version, it is just limited to prevent you from using it to do production work. Maybe someone familiar with the Schools Edition can tell us exactly how it's limited... but I thought it printed watermarks across the drawings, etc. It's trying to prevent you from using it in a professional production environment.

I'll look into Blends and VSS in Creo 1.0 and see if I can produce a quick video.

Thanks!

-Brian

I cannot open academic files with the full fledged Creo.

I for one would be interested in seeing how to make variable section sweeps work.

More than once have I been stopped dead in my tracks by trying to add a simple blend.

Ah for Pete's sake... you're right. If I write files for Amanullah, the schools edition won't open them. I will just have to demonstrate how to use the tool without providing any files.

As for Variable Section Sweeps, they've morphed over the years. The option names all change... the little fiddly buttons have invaded the interface... and it can be daunting to generate a VSS. Blends have virtually stayed the same... they're hopelessly backward and weird. It's like the feature time forgot.

We have about a dozen features time forgot. The problem is, many of those features still have capabilities no other Creo features have. I need to go back to writing a personal blog (that no one reads) so I can get all this stuff out of my system. For example... the ear feature... tremendously useful tool. Nothing in sheetmetal could do what ear did. I think the last time I checked was WF3 but even then ear had capabilities not found elsewhere in sheet metal even after a dozen years of development.

Anyway... I will try to give a Creo 1.0 video for Blends and VSS's.

Thanks!

-Brian

Thanks Brian!! But you gotta be a little quick buddy as I need it really early as in tomorrow, please give a detailed explanation for me to understand better so that I don't have any questions later because the time is too short for my project submission...

Thank you again!

Egad Amanullah... that's one heck of a time deadline. I don't know that I can make a credible tutorial on blends and variable section sweeps that gives a detailed explanation so you don't have to ask any further questions in the time frame you need.

I can do it... but I can't get it done essentially by ... now.

For the simplest blend you're basically going to set up some parallel planes some distance apart. On each plane you're going to sketch a cross section. When you're done you'll have 2, 3, 4, or more planes each with their own sketched cross section. The trick is to keep the same number of elements in each sketch. For example, if you're sketching a box with rounded corners, you have 8 elements... 4 long sides and 4 rounded arc-shaped corners. Each cross section needs to have 8 elements. If you need to use cross sections with less elements... such as when a wing tapers, you need to use a special point called a Blend Vertex.

There are other factors... line each cross section has a directional arrow which should always be pointing in the same direction.

There are probably a dozen tips, tricks, and little nuances and subtleties you have to know to use the blend feature correctly. And this is just for a standard parallel blend. If you get into general blends and rotational blends, there are even more things to know.

Variable Section Sweeps are another whole issue altogether. There's a primary trajectory and optional X-vector trajectory and potentially multiple other tangent trajectories to control the shape of your sweep.

And once you master all of that... then you can move on to the queen mother of all hybrids... the Swept Blend which is yet another twist. I'm not even sure they still have Swept Blends in Creo the way things have been combined and reconfigured I have to play with it to find out.

Unfortunately this is just not something that can be done quickly... it pains me to say that and I hate to let someone down. My best advice when you're under the gun... use solid features and hack the heck out of it with cuts then add rounds like there's no tomorrow. You'd be amazed what you can do with some well placed rounds. Seriously... if you round something heavily enough you can make it look very much like a blend.

I feel for you Amanullah... good luck. If you manage to come up with more time, write back and I'll take a crack at creating a tutorial for you. Tell the professor the dog ate your homework... that's been known to work (although rarely).

Good luck!

-Brian

Hahahaha that was funny and thanks for all the details again...

Yeah i talked to my professor and he extended the time for all of us until 25th of August 2012... But he asked for dimensioned figures to be made in autocad... So I'm gonna work on that myself for the time being, until you show me a way to kick some ass in creo...

Thank you!

Oh Brian, you might hate this but nothing shows up in Creo under Variable Section Sweep but we do have the Swept Blend prominently displayed. I was assuming you were using old terminology for the same thing, but if they were two different animals, they are probably now combined.

I was playing with blends in Creo 2.0. The limitations are severe for something that should be so simple. They are powerful but having to maintain parallel planes on the normal Blend seems weak. The rotational blend seems to demand the axis be on the plane of the primary section. you cannot "edit definition" of the subsequent sections, you must edit definition of the blend itself. We do still have the blend opttions of Free, Tangent, and Normal. The tangent option seems to never work though.

Of course, you also have the Blend Tangent to Surfaces in the surfaces tab. This seems to be a remnent of mold design and have never used it. This might have some interesting morphology between faces.

The Blend Tangent to Surfaces can actually be very useful but people rarely use it option for other methods instead. I will have to look at Creo 1 and 2 to see what's changed under the hood before I attempt a tutorial for Amanullah.

Thanks!

-Brian

You found anything Mr. Brian?!

I've found a massive headache... and I've found that I rarely get any sleep anymore. Neither of these are actually productive developments.

I'll try to tackle this soon... I have a few other training tools and demos I'm working on. They actually take quite a bit of work (well, unless you don't care about quality- then they're easy!).

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